Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Texas Law Banning Common Abortion Procedure Temporarily Blocked

Proponents of the state's law say it would ensure the “humane termination” of the fetus, but opponents argued it would require women seeking abortions to undergo medically unnecessary and untested procedures. Meanwhile in Arkansas, three patients are asking an appeals court to review a decision to allow the state to block funding to Planned Parenthood.

The New York Times:
Texas Abortion Restriction Is Temporarily Blocked
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law that would restrict the most common type of second-trimester abortion. In a 17-page ruling on Thursday, Judge Lee Yeakel of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas found that opponents of the law had shown “a substantial likelihood of success on the merits,” and granted a two-week restraining order while the case proceeds. The restriction had been scheduled to take effect on Friday. (Astor, 8/31)

Houston Chronicle:
Judge Halts Texas Second-Term Abortion Ban
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued a temporary restraining order Thursday, halting implementation of the law meant to go into effect Sept. 1 that would have taken the procedure off the table for abortion providers throughout the state. The state will work to protect its right to protect "the basic human rights and dignity of the unborn," Republican Attorney General ken Paxton's office said in a statement. (Zelinski, 8/31)

Texas Tribune:
Judge Temporarily Halts Texas Ban On Common Second-Trimester Abortion Procedure
Yeakel’s decision follows a Tuesday morning hearing during which attorneys for the state and reproductive rights groups sparred for an hour and a half about whether the order should be granted. With it in place, Texas doctors and health care providers can continue using the dilation and evacuation procedure – deemed the safest by medical professionals for second-trimester abortions — until a more permanent decision is made by the court. (Najmabadi, 8/31)

The Associated Press:
Appeals Court Asked To Review Planned Parenthood Defunding
Three Planned Parenthood patients are asking an appeals court for a review after a panel of federal judges ruled that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to the organization. The three Planned Parenthood Great Plains patients asked the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday to reconsider the three-judge panel's decision. The panel on Aug. 16 vacated a federal judge's preliminary injunction that prevented Arkansas from suspending Medicaid payments for services rendered to patients in the state. (8/31)

Arkansas Online:
3 Clinicgoers Appeal Ruling On Medicaid
On Aug. 16, a divided three-judge panel of the federal appeals court vacated a 2015 injunction that kept the state from cutting off Medicaid funds for the three women and a 2016 expansion of the injunction that covered all Medicaid patients in Arkansas. (Satter, 9/1)